Finding a Hero
by Yuji23
Summary: Poppy sets up camp outside an ancient Castle, rumored to contain vast treasures, in an attempt to find the Legendary Hero who would be attracted to the mystery of such a place. While exploring, things take a turn for the worst as she finds herself in a strange underground realm. Are the inhabitants out to get her or is there more to a monster than just their appearance?
1. The Ruins

**Hello readers! This is the first chapter of a little crossover story I decided to write between League of Legends and Undertale. I mainly started writing this because writing something different allows me to come up with better ideas for my main story (you should check that out too by the way). I always like writing something new so with this story I'm also now taking commissions, so feel free to put forward any crazy idea or pairing you'd like to see a story about via my PM (I usually reply pretty quickly). Anyway, I hope you like this story and feel free to leave a review if you feel like it.**

 **Standard start of story disclaimer: I obviously don't own the rights to League of Legends or Undertale, and the story merely portrays my interpretation of the characters and worlds from these games.**

 **Chapter 1 - The Ruins**

" _Hmm, a place like this is sure to hold all sorts of secret treasure! Perfect for attracting heroes!"_ I thought to myself as I overlooked the ruins of the ancient Demacian castle.

The castle had been in ruins long before even I had arrived in Demacia. Rumours from long ago surrounded the castle, claiming that it was a place of great magic. They told of valuable treasures sealed within the vault, guarded by powerful magic and dangerous monsters. Since then, many brave adventurers had attempted to explore the many underground passages, but all that entered were either met with disappointment or were never heard of again.

" _Guess I'll set up camp while I wait for a hero to turn up."_

Examining the surrounding area, I noticed one of the outer towers of the Castle looked relatively intact. The tower stood tall, seeming like a great place to keep watch over the surrounding area, while its sturdiness would provide excellent shelter against the harsh Winter winds that blew across the Demacian countryside. The steps were rugged and uneven as I climbed my way up them.

" _How inconsiderate of these ancient builders not to cater to someone of my stature! At least carrying this hammer around keeps me in good shape."_

Reaching the top of the tower I was relieved to see the roof was still intact, the old stone still holding firm against its millennial Winter. Rummaging through my backpack I pulled out what little I carried with me: a simple change of garments, several days worth of provisions, a tattered bedroll and a fairly sizable bundle of wood I had collected on my day's travels. After lighting a fire and laying out my bedroll the small tower room quickly became fairly cosy, far more luxurious than what I'm usually used to at least. After a quick dinner and with nothing else to do for the evening, I decided to call it a night.

" _I've got to be up early after all, otherwise I might miss the hero!"_

" _Urggg… Come on, since when did Heroes take the Winter off!?"_

I had been camping out in the old tower for almost two weeks now, and since then I hadn't seen any sign of anyone coming to explore the Ruins. Sure I had left occasionally to gather more firewood and to hunt for food, but I made sure to keep an eye out so I was certain I hadn't missed anyone. Looking outside I could see that a snowstorm was beginning to brew across the plains. " _Well there's no way anyone is moving in this weather,"_ I sighed. I was going pretty crazy from boredom after two weeks of almost nothingness, and seeing as there was no chance of any sort of hero turning up today, I might as well have a poke around the ruins.

" _Who knows, maybe the hero of legend is trapped in some sort of holding spell down there? Awh, that would be so cool! They'll definitely like me if I free them from something like that, maybe I can even play a part in their great tales!"_ Filled with determination, I headed down the tower into the ruins below.

For a place that was almost 1000 years old, the castle corridors were still in great shape. The large stones that made up the walls were relatively undamaged, with only small cracks and a mossy residue covering the majority of them. The snowstorm outside blocked off any light that might usually illuminate the corridors, leaving the small torch in my hand as the only source of both light and warmth as I explored the ever expanding tunnels. At every turn I was greeted by another series of corridors and junctions, and before long I was deep into the catacombs of the castle, any semblance of sunlight long since gone. " _Man, I can see why people get lost down here, I guess most of the people who don't come back simply can't find there way back to the surface"_ I mused, examining the occasional skeleton that I came across, " _Maybe I should head back now..."_

As I was considering heading back I came across a large room. An imposing statue of a great warrior stood in the centre of the room, standing ontop of a mountain of hideous looking monsters that lay vanquished at his feet. Surrounding the statue, rows of ancient scripture and historical carvings were embedded into walls. However, unlike how pristine the statue looked, the walls were stained and the text was faded away in some areas. Not that I could read any of it anyway, I was never much of a scholar but from what I could interpret from the carvings it looked like the room documented some sort of conflict between humans and monsters, ending in victory for the Humans. " _Woah, Ezreal would have a field day down here, maybe I'll bring him back here in the Summer when some Heroes might actually show up."_

Amazing as this room was I quickly remembered why I was here, and with a sigh turned my back on the statue and started to retrace my steps back to the surface. As I exited the room, I was stopped dead in my tracks by a low but powerful rumbling, shortly accompanied by violent tremors. " _Damn! A cave in? Just my luck, the whole structure looked so stable too..."_ My anguish was quickly cut short as a piece of the ceiling stone narrowly missed me as it crashed to the floor. Holding tightly onto my hammer, I made a run for it.

The corridor wasn't that wide, but my speed and small stature made it much easier for me to dodge the falling rocks. However, my hopes were short lived as I turned the corner only to find a gaping chasm where the floor had once been. I searched around desperately, the only ways to go were either back down the corridor or down the chasm. Throwing my trusty buckler, I hoped to hear a clashing sound below, informing me it would be safe to jump. After a few seconds with no reply despair truly gripped me, my options had finally run out. With the corridor rapidly collapsing around me I decided a leap of faith had a much better survival chance than being crushed alive. Holding my breath I steadied myself, then I jumped.

" _Urggggggggggggg…"_ I groaned as I slowly regained consciousness. My body felt like it was made of broken glass, but a quick check revealed that, despite the pain, nothing appeared to be broken. As I pulled myself up off the ground I found that the floor below me was not the cold stone slabs of the Castle above, but rather a thick bed of attractive looking yellow flowers. As I looked upwards all I could see was complete darkness, without any hint of the ruins above. I doubt these flowers, despite their softness, would've provided a sufficient protection against such a fall. " _Maybe I crossed some sort of magic barrier that soften the fall? Guess luck really is on my side today."_

Deciding to finally examine my surroundings I had a quick look around. The room was fairly large, but unlike the corridors above a soft ambient light brightened my surroundings. The floor seemed to be earthen, like a mine tunnel, but patches of flowers like the ones she had fallen into broke up the soft dark brown earth. I would be inclined to believe I was in some kind of natural cave system, but a large stone archway in the far corner of the room gave evidence to the contrary. Clearly someone had constructed this area. A faint glimmer caught my eye as I paced around the room, something small and metallic poked out of a flower bed. "Shieldy!" I exclaimed, as I rushed over to retrieve my trusty buckler, "I guess you're just as hardy as I am!"

As I reached to pull my shield from the flower bed a particularly large flower suddenly looked up at me, a goofy smile and bright eyes sat in the centre forming a face.

"Hey there! I'm Flowey, the flower!" The flower beamed up at me as I recoiled backwards in surprise, pulling my shield free from the ground in the process.

"Oh, hello there… Flowey..?" I replied hesitantly, not sure if this flower was actually talking to me or if that fall did far more damage than I had initially thought.

"Gosh you must be so confused, I guess you don't have many talking flowers up on the surface world do you? Don't worry I'll help you!"

"Oh, you'd actually be surprised," I stated, thinking about the huge variety of entities that fought in the Institute. "But then again... do you know where we are? I kinda need to get back to the surface."

"Why this is the Underground! Down here is home to all sorts of creatures just like me! Don't worry though, everyone down here is really friendly." The plant answered, still grinning happily at me.

"Oh… well that's good to hear I guess…" I responded. Secretly I was dreading the idea that this whole place would be full of weird talking flowers but listening to it seemed like my best bet at finding a way back to the surface.

"Oh I almost forgot! There's a tradition we have when greeting strangers down here! When meeting someone for the first time we show off our 'love' through little friendliness pellets!" As the flower finished saying this a small cloud of marble sized pellets bloomed forth. "Here let me share some with you!"

The small pellets started to hover towards me. Intrigued I looked carefully at them. They seemed harmless but I had a bad feeling about this whole situation, it seemed almost surreal and this plant was definitely being too friendly to someone he's just met. As the pellets drew close my instincts got the better of me and I ducked. No sooner than I did the pellets rapidly gained speed, crashing into the wall behind me.

"Hahahahaha!" A maniacal laugh resonated through the chamber, "Down here, IT'S KILL OR BE KILLED." A large burst of pellets flew out of the flower, covering the area behind it in a giant cloud of death. As the flower continued to laugh the pellets advanced rapidly towards me. I held my hammer and shield firmly in front of me.

" _Well this is gonna hurt"_

As I prepared for the worst, a wave of fire bellowed over my head, incinerating the pellets and blasting away the flower as it shrieked in pain. As I shielded myself from the heat a tall figure walked up beside me.

"Are you injured my child?" the figure asked in a soft voice.

I turned around to look up at my savior. To my surprise I saw yet another unusual character by my side. The figure was covered in short white hair, had long droopy ears and a pair of short horns stood on top of her head. Her appearance reminder me of Soraka, sharing some of the same animalistic qualities. From the long blue dress and the tone of voice it was clear that she was female, and her soft red tinted eyes had a look of concern and compassion in them.

"I'm fine thanks to you," I replied warily. "I mean, unless you're about to set me on fire as well. This whole place seems pretty dodgy if you ask me and I have no idea whether I should trust you any more than that flower."

"I'm sorry you had to witness that my child, and I understand your grief and confusion. The flower you encountered was a truly wicked creature that preys on those unfortunate enough to be stuck alone in these caves. My name is Toriel and I am the Guardian of these Ruins."

"Well nice to meet you Toriel, I'm Poppy and I'm…" I paused for a moment, trying best to describe myself. "Well I guess I'm just a wanderer with a big hammer." I finished, proping my hammer on it's end as I leaned against it. I tried my best to smile at her, but the look on her face turned to one of concern.

"Don't tell me a young child like you is a warrior?" She asked, staring at me intently.

"Oh wait no it's not like that!" I explained frantically, "You see this isn't actually my Hammer! I'm just sort of holding onto it for a Hero, you know I'm like delivering it to them! It's not like I go out fighting or anything."

" _Though that kind of ends up happening regardless when I go to dangerous places were heroes hang out…"_

Toriel's face once again softened as she smiled at me. "You poor thing, a young delivery girl that has fallen down then. I must apologise for my worry, not all people who fall down here are so friendly, many of them are vicious warriors that attack the residents of the Ruins. But fear not, I will protect you my child. Come this way, my house is not far away."

The woman turned to leave and beckoned me to follow. The woman's motherly tone was endearing, but she obviously had never met a yordle before and her treating me like a child was starting to get annoying. " _Oh well, not like I have any better way to get out of here,"_ I thought to myself, as I followed her through the stone arch at the far end of the cavern.

As I was led through a series of tunnels it became apparent that the so called ruins in the Underground were distinctively different from those of the ancient castle above. The stones were much brighter due to a certain degree of maintenance over the years, and the bricks that made up the wall were small and uniformly cut unlike the large slabs that made up the walls above. What also intrigued me were the number of traps and mechanisms that were still active. Toriel had unlocked several doors and navigated us through a multitude of pitfalls before we arrived at her house.

Like the surrounding ruins the abode was also very well maintained. And after being shown inside I was surprised by how modern the furnishing was. The floor was covered in rich wooden boards. The living room had many pieces of fine furniture, as did the bedrooms and other areas. The room that interested me the most was the kitchen, which was filled with technology that wasn't commonplace, even in Piltover. Electrical devices for both the heating of food for eating. cooling for storage and assorted devices I couldn't even recognise adorned the small room.

After a short tour and a cup of tea later, I was left to my own devices. Toriel told me she had some errands to run and that I should wait here for her to come back. She had given me a small device that would allow me to contact her if I needed too. I had never really used a phone before as I generally didn't visit Piltover much, but Tristana had been trying to get me to buy one for ages and in that time I had learnt how they work. I didn't really want to leave yet as I still had to ask Toriel for directions to the surface, but neither did I want to just sit around the house for her to return. Deciding that I could always call her if I needed too, I left the house to take a short walk around the surrounding ruins.

I soon discovered that there were indeed many strange creatures that called these ruins their home. These ranged from small talking frogs, shy wisps and even large talking vegetables. At first they seemed wary of me, but soon they continued about their usual without paying me much head. After around half an hour I came across an unusual sign covered in spider webs.

[Spider bake sale up ahead - all proceeds go to real spiders]

I shuddered slightly. Although I was usually not easily dissuaded, I really disliked spiders and my time on the Twisted Treeline had done little to help alleviate that fear.

" _If the spiders down here are anything like the other monsters I definitely don't want to meet them"_ I thought to myself as I turned to retrace my steps. I was suddenly startled by a loud ringing sound coming from my shoulder bag.

" _Eh? Is that the phone Toriel gave me?"_

I rummaged around my bag before pulling out the small black box which was vibrating violently. Pressing the green button I held the phone up to my ear.

"Hello?" I asked hesitantly.

"Hello my child, this is Toriel," a crackly voice replied. "I hope you are not too bored there, there are plenty of books on the shelves you can help yourself too."

"Oh thanks, I'll keep that in mind but I'm OK at the moment." I replied guiltily, she would probably worry if she knew I left.

"That is a relief to hear, I just thought I'd let you know that I will be back soon, so just hold on for a short while."

Acknowledging this we exchanged goodbyes before I pressed the red phone button.

" _I guess I better get back quickly, I should be able to get back if I follow this path…"_

As I headed back down the way I came I was quickly stopped in my tracks by a strange ghostly aura emanating from the pile of leaves that had built up in the corridor.

" _What on earth is this…"_

I looked intently at the exoplasmic puddle that now occupied the floor. It was glowing dimly and emitting low humming noise. As I listened closer the noise got louder and I could hear it more clearly. It almost sounded like…

"Hey… are you… pretending to be asleep?" I asked, looking at the pool with puzzlement.

The sound quickly stopped and an uncomfortable silence filled the room. After a few seconds the pool began to raise off the floor shyly as it formed into a stereotypical ghostly entity. Now I had seen ghosts before but this one really did look like a bedsheet with eyes, if it wasn't for the very depressed look it had in it's eyes the sight would've almost been comical. The ghost slowly shuffled to the side of the corridor to let me pass, avoiding eye contact with me. I'm not sure quite why, maybe it was because I disturbed it or maybe it was how sad it looked, but I felt really bad for the poor ghost.

"Hey I didn't mean to be rude there, are you OK?" I asked, approaching the ghost.

"Oh no it's fine…" the ghost replied shyly. "It's just awkward because this place is usually empty, but I saw you were on your phone so I pretended to be asleep so you wouldn't notice me, but then I realised that I was in your way so me pretending to be asleep just made it even worse…" the ghost mumbled without pausing.

"Oh sorry I didn't know that this was any place special, I'm leaving anyway now so I won't disturb you anymore," I tried to give the ghost a reassuring smile. "I'm Poppy by the way, what's your name?"

The ghost looked up at me, apparently being reassured by my words. "Napstablook…" he replied.

"Oh well it was nice talking to you Napsta, but I've got to hurry off somewhere so have fun with uh… whatever ghosts like yourself do…" I gave one last smile as I turned to leave.

"It was nice to meet you too Poppy…" I heard him murmur slightly more cheerfully as I left.

As I looked over my shoulder to wave goodbye I saw that he had already disappeared. " _I guess even ghosts come in all sorts of personalities,"_ I thought to myself, picking up my walking pace. "I better hurry back before Toriel noticed I left."

I made it back to the house shortly before Toriel. After a nice meal that Toriel cooked for me we spent the evening casually talking to each other. I explained to her that I wasn't in fact a child, but a yordle in search of the Legendary Hero destined to wield the Hammer of Orlon. In return Toriel told her about her dreams of wanting to be a teacher and how she cared for many of the creatures in the Ruins. Eventually talk turned to the topic of leaving the Underground.

"Surely as the keeper of the Ruins you know how to get back to the surface? As nice as it is down here I can't stay forever." I asked Toriel.

"It is really no trouble, I have always wanted someone to share this house with and so you are very welcome here." She replied, smiling at me.

"No that's not what I meant…" I sighed, despite how kind she was Toriel had always avoided any questions I asked about leaving, and I was running out of ways to ask nicely. "I really need to get back to the surface, I have people I need to get back too! Not to mention this hammer isn't going to find it's own hero!"

Toriel looked away from me, a shadow crossing her face a she sat deep in thought. My feeling of frustration quickly turning to one of dread. " _Could it be she doesn't know the way out?"_

Toriel finally looked up and smiled at me again. "Maybe it's best if we discuss this in the morning. It's been a long day and you can't go anywhere right now."

I sighed in relief. I was still slightly worried, but she was right that I couldn't go anywhere this evening. Nodding my approval she led me to the guest room in the house. I had been awake since early this morning and it was hard to keep track of time in these ruins, but it certainly felt like it was late into the evening. Before long I quickly fell into a deep sleep.

A loud booming sound awoke me from my sleep. As I quickly got out of bed I heard another thud from deep below me. " _What on earth is that? It sounds like someone is tunneling…"_

As I dressed quickly and gathered my equipment I searched the house for Toriel. I had no idea what time it was, and a quick sweep revealed that my host was nowhere to be seen.

As I walked through the hallway I noticed that a door that had been previously locked now stood slightly ajar. When I had asked about it yesterday Toriel had said it led to the basement but now I wasn't so sure.

" **THUD"**

Another loud noise echoed from below. Deciding not to wait around I opened the door and crept down the dark staircase on the other side. After a fairly long walk down I arrived in another corridor, similar to those of the Ruins outside. Small candles flickered behind dusty glass giving an eerie glow to the musty hallway. Following the source of the noise I followed the corridor through several twists and turns. Fortunately there were no forks in the path and I soon arrived at the end.

Before me stood a huge door, probably around twice the height of a normal human, and many more times my own. The door, once ornately decorated was covered in numerous burns and the surrounding walls showed signs of cracks and other damage. In the centre stood Toriel with her back to me. She looked tired and it soon became apparent why as she shot a large burst of flames from her hands at the door, creating a loud thud, similar to the ones I had been hearing.

"Toriel what are you doing!?" I shouted at her in utter confusion.

She turned to me and through the obvious exhaustion on her face she smiled at me. "Poppy, you are already awake. I apologise, I hoped to be finished before then. Please wait upstairs, I'll be with you in a moment."

"No way! I'm not going anywhere! Is that the exit to the Ruins?" I asked angrily.

Her look turned to one of sadness. "It is yes, and I am about to destroy it, please don't stop me."

"Why on earth would you do that! I need to go home, you can't trap me down here!'

"Please understand, this is for your own good. All the humans that have fallen down here have left through this door have died"

I took a step backwards in shock, "They died? How!?"

"The King Asgore, he kills any human that comes down here and takes their souls to increase his power. I cannot let you leave here! I will not stay here and let you die!" She shouted, tears forming in her eyes.

Her words hit me like a truck. This place had seemed so friendly so far, other than the killer flower everyone had seemed so nice, was it all just an act? No I was naive in thinking that a place full of monsters would be some sort of underground Utopia. " _Even if it was, I have to go anyway. The Hero would never give up in a situation like this!"_

"Thank you for your concern Toriel, but I'm not the giving up kind!" I looked her straight in the eyes, "I'm gonna get out of here, and if I meet that soul snatching Asgore fellow on the way I'll show him some Demacian hammer diplomacy!"

Tears were streaming down Toriel's face. "Are you not afraid of death? It would be better for you to just stay here, at least here you can live happily!"

"I'm sorry Toriel, I'm a Demacian, and where I come from we complete our missions even in the face of death. I've been in some pretty rough spots before, but let me tell you I've never gotten out of them by hiding away!"

Toriel began to wipe away her tears. "I can feel your determination little one, it is greater than mine at the very least."

She smiled at me, before bending down and wrapping me in a tight embrace. "Please be careful, the monsters down here may resent humans, but they are good inside." Breaking the hug she turned around and using a key from her dress pocket she unlocked the door behind her.

"Don't worry, I'm a lot tougher than I look." We smiled at each other as I walked through the door. With a final farewell she closed it behind me, the lock clicking into place as I set out to escape the Underground.


	2. Snowdin Forest

**Hey readers! I was really happy with the response this story got after just the first chapter so I was really excited to start writing the next one! This chapter is really going to show whether you enjoy my sense of humor or not so I hope you enjoy it :).**

 **On a side note, I'm not in any way trying to keep any of the dialogue 100% accurate to the actual game. Most of it will be similar, but it will change based on the fact that I'm sure all of you have played the game before and don't need me to transcript it for you, expect lots of new and old jokes :D.**

 **Chapter 2 - Snowdin Forest**

I blinked as I shielded my eyes against the bright light beyond the door. As my eyes adjusted to the light, I shivered against the cold wind. If it wasn't for the fact that I had only gone downwards, I would of thought that I was already back on the surface. Before me lay a dense forest of leafless trees, a thick lining of snow covering their branches and the forest floor below. Similar to the cave I fell into, I could see no indication of a ceiling above me, which further led me to believe there was something strange about this place. The large imposing forest aside, how does it snow underground?

" _No time to think about it, I'll freeze if I stand here all day!"_

I shivered as I noticed what seemed to be a path leading into the woods. From the half frozen gravel and large snow banks on either side, it was clear that the track was regularly swept of snow. Judging from the pristine layer of last night's snow however, it seemed that no-one had travelled up here today.

" _If the path is cleared regularly then it must lead to somewhere. Then again, it's not like I could go anywhere else…"_ I thought to myself as I poked my hammer into the snow on the side of the path. The handle sunk a good two feet before stopping on the earth below.

" _Path it is then! I hope whoever clears it doesn't have anything to do with Asgore or this could go bad really quickly…"_

The area was eerily quiet, my footsteps crunching in the fresh snow the only indication of life in this bleak looking place. I stopped and peered out into the gloom. The rows of trees obscured my vision, limiting it to no more than thirty feet into the woods beyond. As I continued down the path my footsteps seemed louder, the ghostly silence amplifying their sound.

 ***Crack***

I turned around abruptly to the sound of snapping wood behind me. The path was empty, but the still swaying branches of several trees as the snow fell off them gave evidence that I might not be as alone as I thought. Picking up my pace I walked briskly onwards. I could now clearly hear another pair of footsteps behind me, but everytime I tried to catch a glance over my shoulder I saw nothing but snapped branches and disrupted trees.

As the path turned I saw a narrow bridge ahead, spanning over a small gully that flowed through the forest. Wooden bars spanned the bridge, almost formed a gate if the logs weren't so far apart that even a normal sized person could squeeze through. As I examined the interesting wooden structure I heard the footsteps behind me. They were much closer than before, and I could sense a large person standing right behind me.

"Human…" the voice began, it's deep and intimidating tone sending shivers down my spine.

"Don't you know how to greet someone? Why don't you turn around and shake my hand?"

I turned slowly, looking upwards at the shadowy man that stood behind me. Standing in the gloom of the trees I couldn't make out his features clearly, but from his outline I could tell he was around the height of an average man, but with a broad and imposing stature. As I stared, he reached out a gloved hand towards me. Hesitantly I reached out and shook it.

 ***Pffttttt…..***

As I grabbed his hand I felt something defleat and the sound of escaping air filled the silent woods. I looked up in confusion as he let out a low chuckle.

"Heh, the old whoopie cushion in the hand trick, it never gets old."

The figure laughed as he stepped out of the shadows, allowing me to get a better look at him. He stood around 5'10" and his well built stature was enhanced by the bulky blue jacket he wore. Under his jacket was a white shirt, complimented with a pair of striped shorts and rather impractical looking slippers. What truly caught my eye was his face, or lack thereof. The man was nothing but bones, but his eye sockets still showed signs of life as a pair pale pupils looked me over nonchalantly. Despite his intimidating appearance, it was softened by his casual looking clothes and sly grin that covered his face. His clothing and attitude reminded me of some of the things Vi and Ekko wore in their spare time, and if it wasn't for his lack of skin I could imagine the man blending in seamlessly on the streets of Zaun.

"So kid, my name is Sans, Sans the skeleton. I'm meant to be watching out for humans right now but you know…"

He looked me over before shrugging.

"But I guess you don't look much like one, unless you're feeling a little - blue. Hehe." He chuckled at his own pun. "But you are from the surface right? I mean I haven't seen anyone like you around here before. Not that it's any of my business..."

"Yeah I am, from the surface I mean." I replied. "I'm what we call a yordle you see, but I do live in a place mainly populated by humans. Why is everyone so hung up on that fact?"

"Oh, there's some order about all humans having to be captured and sent to the Royal Castle. I'm not a big fan of capturing anyone, so I don't really pay much attention. Come on let's go to my hut, my brother made the bars on the bridge too wide to stop anyone so we can walk straight through."

Sans led me across the gully to a small clearing beyond. A small wooden sentry post stood by the side of the path, snow building up slowly on its sloped roof.

"Oh talking about my brother, you should be careful. He's a human hunting fanatic! He also doesn't really know what they look like, so seeing a surface dweller like you he'll probably think you're one." Sans explained as we stood in the clearing.

"SANS! If I find you asleep at your station again there is going to be hell to pay!" A voice in the distance cackled as Sans finished talking.

"Speaking of which, here he is now, you better hide in my guardpost. Who knows what he will do if he finds you?"

Winking at me, I quickly ran over to the post, ducking down behind the stand and placing my hammer down on the floor. I heard footsteps rapidly approaching as Sans propped himself against the counter above me.

"Sans, what are you doing! Why aren't you clearing the snow off the path!" The voice cried.

"Oh hey Papyrus, didn't see you there. I've just been so busy guarding my post." Sans replied.

"Guarding your post!? You're always so lazy! There's no need to guard that wooden shack!"

"Then why do they call it a guard post?"

"Damn it Sans! You're impossible!" The voice I assumed belonged to Papyrus sighed in frustration. "Have you gotten any work done today?"

"Sure I have, I've got a ton of work today, a skele-ton, hehe." Sans chuckled as his brother let out another cry of exasperation. I kinda felt sorry for him, I met a lot of potential heroes that were incredibly lazy in the past. Despite his sense of humor, even I would get angry with Sans's apparent lack of work ethic if I had to work with him.

"I dread to think what would happen if a human came here while you were on duty! You'd probably just let them sit in your guard post!"

"Hey, you know what, a human did come through here. Why don't you look in this post?"

I froze in shock. " _Is he selling me out? Damn, I really don't want to fight two of them."_ I grabbed my hammer and readied myself for Papyrus to enter.

"I've had enough of your games Sans! I'm not falling for your tricks again!" Papyrus cried, "You better have finished clearing the path when I get back!"

"Awh really bro, you're not gonna take a look?"

"Definitely not! Now, I'm going. If work is too difficult for you, maybe you should put a bit more… backbone into it! NYEHEHEHEHE!"

With this I heard a pair of footsteps leaving the clearing, fading slowly into the distance. I popped my head up over the counter.

"Why did you do that?I thought you said you weren't interesting in capturing me?" I asked Sans, still angry that he almost sold me out.

"Heh, don't worry kid, my brother's a cool guy so he wouldn't capture you without a challenge. Hey, you think you could do me a favor?" Sans asked, dropping his jovial tone for a moment.

"Um, that depends what it is. I mean I guess you didn't capture me so I owe you something."

"Cool, so you think you could pretend to be a human? You know, just for a bit. My brother loves making traps to capture humans with, but none ever really come down here. It would really mean the world to him if you played along."

"Wait, so you want me to be bait for your Brother's traps? Isn't that really dangerous?"

"Nah, don't worry about it. The traps aren't exactly lethal, and I'll keep an eye socket out for you. Who knows, you might have fun." He chuckled.

"Hmm," I mulled it over it over. I wasn't exactly a big fan of playing the bad guy, but if it was just to cheer his brother up then it can't be that bad, and Sans didn't seem like such a bad guy.

"Ok I'll do it, but I really can't let myself get captured you know, I need to get back to the surface…"

"Cheers kid, I owe you one. I'll be sure to point you in the right direction once we get to Snowdin. I'm gonna go tell Papyrus now, you just follow suit in a bit."

Sans winked as he strolled off down the path. I sighed, taking a seat in Sans's guard post. The residents here didn't seem too bad, maybe if the royal guard were all like Sans it wouldn't be too hard to get back to the surface.

" _I really hope I don't bump into the hero around here, who knows what he'll think of me if he sees me playing the bad guy…"_

 _Around 30 minutes later…_

" _Damn that skeleton, where on earth has he gone?"_

I intended to give Sans a good ten minute head start before I followed him, but things had quickly taken a strange turn. Not long after Sans left, a strange blue bird approached the guard post. Unfazed by the fact that I wasn't Sans, it proceeded to tell me bad Ice puns for around 15 minutes before it ran out of material.

" _I take back what I said, the residents here are even stranger than some of the champions in the League, and that's really saying something…"_

As I approached another clearing, I breathed a sigh of relief. Before me stood a pair of skeletons with their backs to me. One of them was familiar, clearly Sans from the jacket he was wearing, while the other was a much taller skeleton, who I assumed to be his brother Papyrus. Papyrus stood a good 6" above his brother, wearing a white breastplate, bright blue shorts and a rough red scarf around his neck. His hands were covered with a pair of red gloves and gold lining adorned the majority of his costume. Unlike his brother, Papyrus's face was far longer and straighter than Sans's rounder skull. The way he stood confidently next to his brother gave off an aura of nobility.

" _Wow, he looks really heroic! Maybe he could be a great hero?"_

"Sans! How long are you going to keep me here? It's been 20 minutes now and I'm really beginning to doubt your story about that cloud that looked like a plate of spaghetti!"

"Hey, I'm sure it will turn up eventually." Sans replied, turning round and noticing my presence, "Hey Papyrus, what's that over there?"

Papyrus turned around slowly, his narrow eyes opening wide as he stared straight past me.

"OH MY GOD, IS THAT A HUMAN!?"

"No, I think that's just a rock. Hey, what's that in front of the rock?"

"OH MY GOD, IS THAT A HUMAN!?"

"It sure is."

"OH MY GOD!" Papyrus grasped his face in shock, looking straight at me, "Are you really a human?"

" _I take back everything…"_

"Um, well I sorta…" I stuttered, " _Come on Poppy, be brave! Just like the Hero!"_

"I mean, yeah! I'm the mighty human hero here to defeat King Asgore!"

"Nyehehehe! Don't get carried away! I, the great Papyrus stand in your path! Prepare for puzzles, japes and dramatic encounters, all concluding in my great triumph as I am welcomed into the Royal Guard! Nyehehe!" Papyrus gloated.

"I will bathe in a thousand kisses every morning, and I will finally reach a double digit friend count on the internet! Prepare yourself Human!" He finished his speech before turning to leave.

"Woah, hold up brother. Don't you want to like, you know, make sure she's the real deal?"

I gaped at Sans in confusion, " _What is he doing?"_. Sans winked at me mockingly.

"Like, why don't we ask them if they know any good jokes?"

"Sans! Why would we ask a human if they know any good jokes?" Papyrus asked.

"Well, aren't you wondering if she's, human-rous?" Sans chuckled.

"I HATE YOU SANS, WHY DO YOU ALWAYS DO THIS TO ME?" Papyrus cried, stamping his feet on the ground angrily.

"That's your queue kid, make sure it's a good one." Sans smiled expectantly.

"Oh jokes? I mean, sure I know some jokes!" I replied. Tristana told me to learn a few jokes to use in casual conversation, and I had been practicing telling them in my spare time.

" _Never thought they'd be so useful though, now how does it go again?"_

"Well then Human, we're waiting! It better not be as bad as my brother's awful puns!" Papyrus exclaimed.

"Ok so like, a Noxian, a Demacian and an Ionian… wait no, A Frejordian walk into a bar…"

"Sans, what's a Frejordian?" Papyrus whispered to Sans.

"I don't know, but I'm too a-frejd to ask." Sans replied.

"And the Demacian says 'I'll have a wine', no wait, 'an Ale!' And then the Noxian says, 'I'll have a' uh, 'wine', yeah he wants a wine. And then the Frejordian says, 'I'll drink anything, so long as…, uh, so long as... , what does he say again?" I looked around awkwardly, Sans and Papyrus stood in a silence in front of me.

We all stood there awkwardly, the silence was deafening as the two skeletons stared at me in disbelief.

"Hmmm, very clever Human. Instead of telling us a joke, you have given me, the Great Papyrus a challenging puzzle instead! Already you challenge my incredible intellect with your dastardly schemes! Well fear not, soon you too will be confounded! Nyehehehehe!" Papyrus laughed as he ran out of the clearing deeper into the forest.

I walked over to Sans as he stood there chuckling to himself.

"I think you need to work on your joke telling a bit kid, but good job. I haven't seen Papyrus that happy since Undyne said she would personally train him. Thanks again for this, we better hurry before he goes too overboard on his first trap." Sans told me as he walked after Papyrus.

" _Well I guess that went better well. I hope his puzzles aren't too difficult…"_

I spent my next 10 minutes creeping past another guard Sans didn't warn me about. The guard look tired, or maybe he had just been consuming too many "substances". Either way the place had smelt of alcohol and burnt dog treats, leaving the guard apparently unable to see anything that wasn't moving quickly.

After carefully tiptoeing around him, I soon came across the site for Payrus's first puzzle, at least that's what I assumed. Across the clearing stood Sans and Papyrus, the floor between us looked flattened, with stray branches and stones cleared to the sides of the clearing. Other than this, the clearing seemed completely empty, with no signs of any traps or puzzles.

" _I have a bad feeling about this…"_

"Aha! Welcome human! I see you have finally arrived at the site of my first puzzle! I think you will find this one… quite shocking! Nyehehehehe!" Papyrus cried from the other side of the clearing.

"Uh, have you like, not set it up yet? Because I don't really see anything…" I replied in confusion.

"Nyehe! Oh dear Human, that is because this is my incredible 'Invisible Shock Maze'! You must navigate this maze without being able to see it, and should you accidently touch the walls this orb will deliver a high powered electrical blast!" Papyrus explained.

"What really? Woah, that's pretty cool! So there are like actual walls here?" I asked, taking a few steps forward and stretching out my hand. No sooner than I did this my hand touched a cold metal bar that I couldn't see, and lightning arced out from the maze, revealing it entirely for a moment before blasting Papyrus.

"Owowowowow!" Papyrus screamed as the lightning coursed from the orb and into his body.

"I think the Human needs to be the one holding the orb for this to work bro." Sans chuckled.

"Yes I know that Sans! She just jumped ahead before I was done explaining! Stand still Human while I come and give you this orb!" Papyrus exclaimed before moving erratically across the clearing before reaching me.

"Hold this human!" He said, before placing the orb in my hand and retracing his steps back through the maze, leaving a clear path of footsteps in the fresh snow.

I watched Papyrus in disbelief as he revealed the correct path through the maze. This puzzle would actually be a very difficult one to solve, as the only real way to see the answer is in the few brief seconds after you make a mistake and the maze lights up. However, by navigating it himself to give me the orb, all I have to do is follow his footsteps in order to get a perfect solution.

" _Awh, I kinda feel bad for him. If I was to solve this puzzle straight away, he'd probably be really upset. I guess I should try and take it slow, maybe risk a few mistakes. Damn, this is gonna hurt…"_

"Nyehe! You look thoroughly stumped, I hope I haven't defeated you already Human!" Papyrus shouted from across the clearing, noticeably further back than before.

"Uh, don't worry! I'll solve this in no time at all! Just make sure you've got your best puzzles ready for me once I finish!" I shouted back.

He grinned excitedly at my response as I set out into the maze, moving carefully and slowly as I followed his path, making sure I made it look like I was checking for the walls as I moved. At around the halfway point, I decided that it was about time to make a mistake. Closing my eyes, I continued walking straight just as Papyrus's footsteps turned. As I felt the cold touch of the metal I heard the maze begin to hum before the lightning arced out once again. My very bones felt like they were on fire as the lightning coursed through my body as I let out a cry of pain. As quickly as the pain hit me, it disappeared, leaving me flat on the floor.

"It appears you are having some trouble there Human, but allow me to alleviate your concerns!" Papyrus shouted, "I, the Great Papyrus, have finally solved your riddle!"

" _What riddle?"_ I thought to myself as I got back up and continued walking, " _Is he just trying to distract me?"_

"The so called Frelyodan would clearly order anything as long as it's spaghetti!" Papyrus gloated, a smug smile across his face as he stared at me expectantly.

"Spaghetti… what, no! What even is spaghetti? How does that even make any sense? It was just a - Owwwwwww!" Confused by Papyrus's announcement I once again bumped into the sides of the maze, receiving another painful shock from the lightning orb.

"Hmm, I was sure that was the correct answer, but your shock leads me to believe I must have been close! Don't think you've beaten me yet human! Nyehehe!"

With a sigh I quickly navigated through the remainder of the maze, not wanting to linger around any longer incase I accidentally got zapped again. Sans smiled at me as I finally completed the maze, giving me a congratulatory wink as I laid my hammer on the ground to catch my breath. I looked up at him in frustration.

" _Damn you Sans, you said that his puzzles were harmless! If I didn't have the solution given to me I could've died from those shocks!"_

"Well done Human, you seemed to have passed my first challenge fairly quickly! Did my stunningly accurate guess to your riddle inspire you to finish quickly before I solved it?" Papyrus asked.

"No, aha," I replied, still catching my breath from that last sprint through the maze, "I guess I'm just that good." I returned Papyrus's grin with my own look of determination.

"Well, I think I would rate your performance acceptable this time. Truth be told, I thought this puzzle might be slightly too tricky, so I showed you the solution first by navigating through the maze myself, twice in fact! But it appears your Human memory was not quite good enough to get a perfect score!" He gloated before turning to leave. "Another fantastic jape by the Great Papyrus! Nyehehehehehe!"

I stared at the skeleton in disbelief as he bounded out of the clearing, once again disappearing into the woods beyond.

" _Are you kidding me? He did it deliberately!?"_

"Hey thanks for making those mistakes kid, you're really doing a good job at this." Sans patted me on the back as I rose to my feet. "You really are a pretty nice guy after all, you be careful while walking through this forest, there may be one or two more guards here other than me and Papyrus." He smiled as he shuffled after his brother.

" _Oh, thanks for telling me that Sans, I didn't notice that before…"_ I thought to myself as I picked up my hammer and trailed after them. " _That's the last time I go easy on this skeleton's puzzles…"_

"Sigh, I hope business picks up soon, I'm really low on sales at the moment." The blue man mumbled to himself as I walked past him. Looking at him he was wearing a bright yellow short sleeved shirt with a single red stripe down the middle as well as a pair of bright red shorts. Though he wore a gloomy expression on his face, he brightened up as he saw me approach him.

"Hey Stranger, can I interest you in a Nice cream? It's the frozen treat that makes you smile!" He asked me.

"Um sorry, I don't really have any money, well not the kind you use around here anyway." I replied. I had tried ice cream before in Bandle City, Tristana and Rumble couldn't get enough of the stuff, but I had always found it a bit too sweet for my tastes.

"Oh, so you must be the 'Human' Sans and Papyrus were telling me about! Don't worry about it, Sans told me to give you one on the house! His brother also told me to let you know that the next puzzle is over there." He said, pointing a few meters down the road. He then proceeded to scoop out some nice cream from his trolley and handed me a cone.

"Ah, thanks I guess," I replied, taking the cone from him. He gave me a parting wave as I started walking in the direction he had indicated. Not wanting to seem rude, I gave the nice cream a taste. Just like the ice cream in Bandle City, the frozen treat was almost sickeningly sweet, and I found it difficult to continue eating it.

" _I'm sure Tristana would love this, but this really isn't for me…"_ I thought to myself, as I discreetly dumped the nice cream in the snow bank. " _Now let's see what Papyrus has prepared for me now…"_

"So you arrive at last human! I hope that you're ready for- SANS! WHERE IS YOUR TRAP!?" Papyrus shouted as I arrived at the Skeletons' next location.

"It's right there Papyrus, on that rock. Can't you see it?" Sans replied.

Me and Papyrus looked over to the rock Sans had indicated, sure enough on top of the rock a small page of paper sat, held in place by a smaller rock on top of that.

"SANS! WHAT ON EARTH IS THAT?"

I walked over to the paper and picked it up. Written across the the paper was a crudely constructed wordsearch with a picture of a dog's face on it. Sitting down on the rock, I had a quick search over the grid of letters. There were only 10 words to find, and the grid wasn't that big, so it only took around a minute to find all the words. Sans hadn't even put in the effort to put any of them diagonally or backwards.

"I think I've solved it Sans," I told him, handing the paper over to him.

"GOOD WORK SANS, THAT DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!" Papyrus berated Sans.

"Damn, I knew I should've used today's crossword instead." Sans replied, "Good job kid."

"Crossword? Sans, the crossword wouldn't be any better! Besides, Junior Jumble is far more difficult than crosswords…" Papyrus explained.

"Junior Jumble, you mean that baby puzzle?" Sans asked.

"Silence! Junior Jumble is the pinnacle of mental exercise, but let's put this to my intelligent rival! Human, which do you think is harder!" Papyrus inquired.

I don't really spend my time solving puzzles, and as such I never really look at crosswords, nor have I ever heard of Junior Jumble. Looking over to the two, Papyrus was hanging on my answer expectantly why Sans merely gave me a wink before shrugging his shoulders.

"Um, well obviously Junior Jumble is the most difficult!" I replied, Papyrus's face lighting up in joy.

"Aha! Humans must be incredibly intelligent to also be puzzled by such advanced brain teasers! I hope you are prepared for my next challenge, for it will be far greater than my brother's! Nyehehehe!" Papyrus cried as he sprinted off into the distance.

"Keep going like this, and you'll be a true villainous Human in no time kid," Sans chuckled, "Also, I hope you don't mind dogs…"

 **Next chapter soon, please leave a review if you liked :)**


	3. Bonetrousle

**For all those of you who were waiting for the Papyrus fight, it's finally here! I hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! The next chapter may take a little while because putting out two chapters for this story in a row is a little draining, and so I'm going to go work on a chapter for my other story.**

 **Thank you to everyone who has left a review or decided to follow this story! I'll admit I'm nosy and I look up everyone who decides to follow, and anyone who has left a review will tell you that I always give responses to any I get. If anyone wants to PM me for feedback, ideas or just to talk, I usually respond pretty quickly so feel free to do so!**

 **Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter :D**

 **Chapter 3 - Bonetrousle**

Breaking out of the treeline, I found myself on top of a hill. The path continued downwards into another patch of forest, but from my higher vantage point I could see a small village on the far side of the forest.

" _Hmm, that must be Snowdin in the distance. Sans said he'd point me in the right direction once I arrive, so it shouldn't be too far now."_

The remaining woodland was much sparser than the dark forest I had just emerged from, giving me much better vision of the path ahead. Although the distance to Snowdin didn't look too far, I could see several sentry posts dotted along the path, and from Sans's warning I was guessing that they also had guard dogs.

" _That, and who knows how many more surprises Papyrus has in store for me…"_

Not wanting to waste anymore time I headed off down the path.

Before long I found a large sign next to a row of spikes that lined the road ahead.

[HUMAN, SOMEWHERE IN THE SNOW I HID THE BUTTON TO RETRACT THESE SPIKES, I HOPE YOU ENJOY DIGGING]

" _Great…"_ I thought to myself, looking at the deep snow surrounding the sides of the path, " _This could take a me a while…"_

[PS. AS A REWARD, I HAVE PLACED SOME OF MY FINEST SPAGHETTI ON THE OTHER SIDE. I'M SURE THIS WILL MOTIVATE YOU TO WORK QUICKLY, NYEHEHEHE!]

Sure enough, on the other side of the spikes I could see a table with a plate of 'something' on top of it. I couldn't really see what it was, but I'll admit I was curious as to what this fabled spaghetti was.

" **Woof! Woof!"**

I jumped as I heard the loud barking behind me. Turning around, I expected to see some sort of guard dog, but to my surprise- well it was a guard dog, quite literally. A small white dog stood before me, upright on its hind legs. In its hands it held a sword and shield, as well as wearing a set of chainmail armor.

" _A dog, that is a guard, a guard dog…"_

We both looked at each other expectantly, waiting for the other to make a move. After a minute of awkward silence the dog barked at me again.

" **Woof!"**

"Um, hello? Can you understand me?"

" **Woof Woof!"**

"Look, I don't want to fight you, I just need to get past here," I layed down my hammer and raised my hands slowly, "Look, I'm putting my weapon down, why don't-"

" **WOOF!"**

The moment I raised my hands the dog dropped onto all fours, its sword and shield clanging on the soft snow as it looked at me expectantly, its tail wagging furiously. I held my hand out towards the dog. In its excitement, the dog leapt at me, knocking me onto the ground. I giggled as the dog licked me enthusiastically.

"Wow, you're a friendly little thing aren't you!" I laughed, petting the dog in return.

I didn't realise how much of a mistake I had just made.

As I petted the dog, it got more and more hysterical, its tail going into overdrive as it barked loudly. What I didn't expect was its neck, as I petted it began stretching like it was made of elastic, lengthening rapidly a I stared in disbelief. Pinned by the dog on top of me, I was helpless as its head began to bounce around the clearing. I was rendered helpless as the madness continued, the small dog's neck extending to over 100 feet as it turned and twisted like a white fury snake.

As my face was burried into the snow by the weight of the dog, I heard a clunking sound and the sliding of metal. Straight afterwards the dog leapt off me, its neck retracting rapidly as it bounded off into the distance. I stood up and dusted the snow off of my clothes, staring at the chaos I had just caused. Snow had been thrown everywhere and Papyrus's sign lay in splinters on the floor. The fortunate thing was that in its madness the dog had found the button, retracting the spikes and allowing me to continue. Checking the now destroyed table, I picked the plate of "Spaghetti" off of the floor. The food was still intact, primarily because it was frozen solid to the plate.

" _Well I guess I won't be trying spaghetti any time soon…"_

As I mourned the loss, I heard another set of footsteps approaching my location. Staring down the path, I saw a two hulking figures approaching. They stood over 7 feet tall, with black robes covering their whole body and hoods covering their faces. In their hands they held large, two handed axes, the sort of weapon that would stand proud in Darius's or Olaf's collections. Before I had time to react, they surrounded me, circling me and preventing my escape.

Being this close to me, I could see that under the darkness of their hoods their faces were that of large dogs, almost similar to Nasus except for their snow-white fur.

" **Woof!** What's this strange smell?" The first dog asked.

" **Bark!** If you are a strange smell, identify yoursmelf!" The second followed up, as the two of them sniffed me intensively.

"Uh hey, I didn't mean to um, excite your… friend?" I explained hesitantly. The last encounter had already gone a little strange, and not wanting to risk being attacked by these even larger dogs I decided to play it safe.

" **Woof!** You smell almost like…"

"...A lost puppy?" The two dogs asked. The second finishing the first's sentence.

Looking down at myself I could see that I was still covered in a mixture of melting snow and dog saliva, which while being incredibly gross, seemed to be working in my favour.

"Um yes, I guess I am a little lost. I don't suppose you've seen a couple of skeletons anywhere around here have you?" I asked.

" **Bark!** Sans and Papyrus?"

" **Woof!** They just went past here!"

" **Bark!** Follow us!"

I waved goodbye to the pair of dogs, who I learnt were called Dogmay and Dogaressa, and saw two familiar skeletons standing before me. The ground between us was covered in a sea of grey looking tiles, all of which seemed to be connected up to a large looking machine that Papyrus seemed to be fiddling with. Upon seeing me approaching, Sans elbowed Papyrus, causing him to look up in joy.

"AHA! Human! So you have finally arrived! I trust you found that cleverly hidden button in the snow then?"

"Uh, yeah, you could say that the answer just sort of jumped out at me…" I replied, rubbing the back of my head in embarrassment as I tried to forget the madness that had ensued.

"Impressive! But you see, I have also found the solution to your puzzle! Papyrus replied, pulling a book out from under his clothes.

Although I couldn't clearly see from across the clearing, the title of the book seemed to read "World Geography for Kids".

"The Fjord-ian would clearly order anything as long as it doesn't come with Ice!" He exclaimed beaming.

"Huh? No, I mean, the Freljord is pretty cold so they wouldn't want ice in their drinks, but I think you're kinda missing the point, it was just a joke…" I replied.

"AH! So it means they would order something that does have ice in it, interesting…" Papyrus flicked through a few more pages of his atlas before slamming it shut. "ANYWAY! You have challenged enough of my time Human! It is now my time to challenge you! Nyehehehe!"

"I guess your joke just didn't hit his funny bone," Sans winked at me.

I rolled my eyes in exasperation, " _I guess we're back to skeleton puns again…"_

"Pay attention now! Once I activate this machine created by the great Royal Scientist Dr Alphys it will generate a completely random puzzle full of multicolored tiles! There are so many possible combinations that not even I know what will happen!" Papyrus explained enthusiastically

"Now to explain the colours:

Pink tiles do nothing, walk on them all you want!

Green tiles will cause you to fight a monster in order to proceed!.

Red tiles are no entry, you cannot step on them!

Yellow tiles are electric, they will shock you!

Orange tiles do nothing, but they will make you smell sweetly of oranges!

Blue tiles are water tiles, you can cross if you swim, but if you smell of oranges then the piranhas will attack you! Also if there is a yellow tile nearby the water will become electrocuted!

Finally purple tiles are really slippery, you will slide right across them! They also make you smell of lemons, which piranhas hate!

Now that you understand the rules, we can start!"

"Wait, scented tiles, lightning? Papyrus I've never really spent much time swimming before, what's a piranha?!" I asked hurriedly as Papyrus began to activate the machine.

"I'm sure you'll figure it out, now LET'S DO IT!" He shouted, before pulling down the big lever on the machine.

The tiles on the ground suddenly lit up, rapidly alternating colours as the machine generated a random puzzle.

"It shouldn't take too long, prepare yourself for the ultimate brain te-" Papyrus froze as the machine stopped flashing, locking the tiles in place.

Looking down I could see two large stripes of red tiles with an even larger pink stripe down the middle. At this, Papyrus's face turned to one of absolute shock, before spinning away from the clearing and into the woods beyond.

"Guess you just got lucky kid, See you in Snowdin then," Sans chuckled as he followed his brother, giving me a parting wave as he left.

I stood dumbfounded at their reactions, looking out across the final puzzle in wonder.

"Wait guys! What did the pink and red tiles do again!?"

The last mile to Snowdin was fairly calm, compared to what I had been through before at least. Most of my time was spent attempting to navigate my way across an icy maze that Papyrus had clearly set up. Though it seemed simple enough - cross each of the points only once and then get to the exit - the slipperiness of the ice meant that I spent a fair amount of my time sliding around on my backside rather than going in the right direction.

" _Maybe I should of let Braum give me those ice skating lessons, I never thought they'd come in useful…"_

Besides that, I met many other residents on the way into town. Most of them seemed friendly enough (besides a deer looking creature that had had its antlers decorated by some of the local kids) and after getting through an even larger dog, I finally arrived at the bridge leading into Snowdin. Unsurprisingly, I was greeted by two familiar faces on the far side of the bridge.

"You have done well Human! You have successfully navigated all of my traps with flying colours, and even japed the great Papyrus himself with your own dastardly riddles!"

"It wasn't a riddle, it was meant to be a joke…" I murmured as Papyrus continued.

"But this is where I win, behold my ultimate trap!"

As Papyrus shouted I noticed that surrounding the bridge was a large collection of assorted weaponry, blades, axes, knives, cannons, the whole works.

"When I activate this button, you will be completely destroyed, and my initiation into the Royal Guard will finally be complete, Nyehehe!"

"Wait, hold on a minute!" I shouted from across the bridge.

"Hmm? Oh, pleading for your life? Well seeing as I, the Great Papyrus, am a merciful soul I will listen to your pleas!"

"You can't seriously just kill me like this, where would - is that a dog?" I asked, looking at one of the weapons suspended above me.

"No of course it… SANS WHY IS THERE A DOG IN MY ULTIMATE TRAP!?"

"I dunno, guess you could say that he's, barking up the wrong trap?"

"WELL DONE, YOU'VE COMPLETELY RUINED THE MOMENT SANS! NOW I CAN'T POSSIBLY USE THIS ON THE HUMAN. NOT ONLY WOULD IT BE FAR TOO EASY BUT YOUR PUNS HAVE RUINED EVERYTHING!" Papyrus shouted as he turned to leave.

"I guess you can enter this time Human, but tomorrow I will have an even greater final trap for you! Meet me at the far side of Snowdin tomorrow at dawn! Nyehehehe!"

"See, I got your back kid. You gotta be hungry after such a long day of walking, how about I treat you to some food at Grillby's?" Sans asked as I walked across the large wooden bridge.

"Yeah some food would be great," I hadn't eaten anything all day, besides a tiny bit of nice cream, and I was starving. "Lead the way I guess"

Having only had a brief look around, it was clear that Snowdin was not a large town. The scattered houses that surrounded the main 'high street' couldn't have housed more than a few hundred residents, and the limited shops that made up the former made the place seem rather dull and uninteresting compared to some of the bustling metropolises I had visited. Regardless, the town had a warm, comforting air to it, and the local bar - Grillby's - was full of smiling faces and wagging tails.

After greeting my new canine friends, Sans ordered us up a pair of 'Hamburgers'. Apparently it was cooked meat in bread, which further cemented my picture of Sans fitting in on the streets of Zaun, eating the messy urban food from one of the dozen carts that dotted every street corner.

"I really appreciate what you did for my brother today kid, he's been so worked up all day. Heh, I haven't seen him this happy in a long time, probably not since Undyne told him that she would train him." Sans explained as we waited for our food at the bar.

"Hey, it was no problem Sans, I actually really enjoyed today! I mean other than the nearly deadly electricity, the hyperactive dog attacks and almost being minced on the bridge back there…" I replied, laughing nervously as I remembered all of the near death experiences I had experienced today.

"It was pretty good fun though, your brother seems like a really nice guy, even if he is a little over the top. He's like, a less annoying and more innocent version of Draven I guess..."

"Well I have no idea who this Draven fella is, but he must be pretty cool if he's anything like my brother."

"Yeah, maybe not so much… but anyway, what does your brother have planned for me tomorrow?" I asked.

"Hey, I don't really want to spoil the surprise kid, but I would guess that he will probably try to fight you, he's pretty strong you know." Sans replied as the barkeep Grillby, a creature made almost entirely of fire, delivered our food.

"Fight me? I don't really want to fight anyone, I thought we were getting along well…"

"Heh, don't worry about it kid. My brother is a really cool guy, there's no way he would actually try and kill you or anything. Just do your best kid! I'm sure if you appeal to his nice side he'll let you go." Sans winked at me.

"Hmm if you're sure, why is he so adamant about catching humans anyway?" I asked.

"It's a long story kid, maybe you could ask him about it sometime?"

We sat in comfortable silence for a bit as we eat our food. I could hear the noisy barking of the dog poker going on behind us, as well as the normal bustle that is present in any lively tavern.

"Anyway, it's been fun kid, just remember: if my brother uses his fabled blue attack, just stand still. It won't hit you if you don't move." He explained, before standing to leave.

He had already finished his food, eating it a lot faster than I had. Sans tipped Grillby before collecting his jacket.

"You can probably stay the night in the local inn, they're not too picky about their guests." Sans informed me.

"Oh, that's nice of them, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then? You still haven't told me where I need to go to get to the surface…"

"Don't worry about it, once you've finished with my brother I'll give you a hint." Sans gave a parting wave as he walked out of the door, pausing just before he left.

"Look kid, you're a good person, and I'm sure I don't need to tell you this, but if you hurt my brother…"

He paused, turning to face me. His face was completely dark, with all traces of its usual comic expression completely absent.

" **You're gonna have a bad time** "

The door closed shut behind Sans as I swallowed nervously.

" _Glad I didn't end up on his bad side, I really need to make sure I don't hurt Papyrus in this 'fight'..."_

"So you show your face Human! I am glad to see that you don't back down in the face of adversity!" Papyrus exclaimed as I stood before him.

We met on the far side of Snowdin, the large icy river that flowed through the town was to our right, while the large forest we had spent the previous day in was to our left. The snow was lightly falling in the pale winter light of the early morning, and a soft western wind caused the flakes and our scarves to dance in the breeze. We stared each other down, both preparing for the other's first move.

"Before we begin, I want to say something Human. Yesterday, I felt many emotions. The admiration of finding someone cool to hang out with, someone who loves puzzles, junior jumble and even Spaghetti!"

"Awh, thanks! I didn't really end up trying the spaghetti but-"

"And these emotions are what I felt overflowing from you! I know it isn't easy finding someone as great as me out there, but I thought I would let you know that I, the Great Papyrus, is willing to become your friend!"

" _OK, maybe saying he wasn't as bad as Draven was a bit premature…"_

"You know, you should probably tone down the narcism a bit, no-one likes an overly cocky hero Papyrus." I informed him.

Papyrus smiled at me, "Nonsense human! Everyone loves Heroes that describe themselves as heroic and brave! I have read most of four books about heroes, which makes me an expert on the topic! Nyehehe!"

"Books? I've spent the past couple of decades searching for the legendary hero that this hammer belongs too! Clearly that means heros are my speciality!" I replied, brandishing the hammer in front of the skeleton.

"Hmmm," Papyrus pondered for a moment, thinking over what I had just said. "But surely, seeing as you still have that hammer, you have never found this hero? So how much of an expert can you really be with no experience?"

"Hey, it's not like I didn't find any heros, just not the right hero…" I stammered, He had really hit a bit of a sore point, and I really didn't need someone like Papyrus telling me I hadn't achieved much over the past years.

"Let's just change the subject, what is your final challenge anyway?"

"Nyehe, I'm glad you asked! Your final challenge is none other than me, the Great Papyrus himself! As a (future) very famous royal guardsman, it is my duty to battle and capture you human! Prepare yourself!" Papyrus explained, striking a heroic pose.

" _Guess this is the part where I try and convince him, what did Sans say again? Appeal to his nice side?"_

"Hey look Papyrus, I'm just trying to get back to the surface, I really have nothing against you or the Royal Guard or anything. It was really fun doing all your puzzles and playing your mind games, but I have to go now! Despite being different, we can still be friends right?" I pleaded.

"Well of course we can be friends! Wait no, I mean, you're a human, and I have to capture humans…" Papyrus explained doubtfully, questioning his own motives for a moment. "I'm sorry Human, we cannot be friends, for I must capture you to finally fulfil my dreams as a royal guardsman!"

At this a multitude of bones emerged from out of the snow, before hurtling towards me. They weren't particularly fast, and so I deftly managed to dodge to the side. Weaving between the onslaught of bones, I cried out to Papyrus again.

"Please, we don't have to do this! There's no need to fight!"

Regaining his composure, Papyrus straightened up and smiled, the bones stopping for a moment.

"Nyehe, do not fear Human! Although I have decided to capture you, I vow that I will not let you be harmed! Now come with me quietly and I shall turn you over to Undyne!"

"No way! If you think I'm just gonna roll over and let you take me, you've got another thing coming!" I replied, readying my hammer. I didn't want to hurt Papyrus, but if he was really going to get in my way, I guess I could rough him up a bit.

As the bones started to emerge again, I rushed forwards. Jumping over the projectiles, I raised my hammer above my head, slamming it down into the ground sending a wave of moving rock and snow towards the Skeleton. To my surprise, Papyrus nimbly dodged my attack before causing a large bone to erupt from the snow beneath me, knocking me back into the ground. As I landed roughly, I quickly held up my hammer to block the barrage of femurs that came hurtling towards me.

"You're pretty strong Human, I'll give you that! But it will take more than that to defeat the Great - offff!" Papyrus cried as my shield collided with his skull with a loud clang. Clutching one eye, Papyrus howled at me from the far side of the path.

"Owowowow! What sort of attack is that Human! That's not how you use a shield!"

"Sorry, never really learnt how to fight, seems to work though!" I replied as I ran towards the half blinded skeleton.

"Well you're meant to use it for defence not - urffff!" Once again Papyrus was cut short as I tackled him to the ground, landing him a solid blow to his breast plate.

We wrestled around in the snow for a while, my hammer and his bones scattering the once peaceful clearing. Though Papyrus had a clear size advantage on me, my short stature and heavy armor (it's the armor, I'm not heavy!) allowed me to fight him on fairly even terms. Though I soon realised the futility of punching a skeleton, (I mean, what do you even go for?) I continued to lay down a barrage of blows, with him returning many of his own. After a couple of minutes, Papyrus managed to knock me off him, throwing me across the snow with a powerful blast of ulnas. He stood panting before me with what I guessed to be the skeletal equivalent of a black eye forming on his face.

"Hmm, your underhand tricks won't work on me any longer Human! For I have my own Ace! Behold my fabled Blue Attack!"

As I wiped the blood away from my mouth, I saw a large swarm of spectral bones appear behind Papyrus. They certainly were glowing blue, and the huge number that surrounded the Skeleton made the idea of dodging them improbable at best.

" _Sans, you better not have been messing with me when you told me I have to stand still for this attack…"_ I thought to myself as I held my breath, the ghostly bones rushing me all at once.

As the bones slammed into me, I felt a cold chill pass through my whole body as one by one the phantom projectiles passed straight through my body. Though they didn't seem to cause me any physical harm, each one felt like an icy dagger piercing at my very soul. Once the attack ended, I looked up at Papyrus who was still smiling.

"Heh, that wasn't so bad. For your best attack, it didn't really seem to do a lot!" I grinned at Papyrus.

"Oh really? Maybe you just haven't noticed the effect due to that conveniently coloured hair that covers your body! The real power of my attack is that it makes you blue!" Papyrus exclaimed, playing with a small bone in his hand before catapulting it towards me. As I moved to dodge, I suddenly realised my body felt sluggish, as if I was moving through thick tar. Everything felt heavy, and without the finer motor controls I had before, the bone smashed straight into my chest, knocking me to the floor and winding me.

"Nyehehehe! Let's try this again shall we?"

Looking up I saw the barrage of femurs hurtling towards me again. Willing myself to move I tried my hardest to jump and duck between the projectiles. The onslaught of bones seemed never ending, and after trying my hardest to avoid getting hit I still had a multitude of cuts and bruises covering my body.

" _Damn, I didn't want to try this, but it looks like I don't really have a choice. How do Trist and Gnar do it again?"_

"Nyehehe! It appears you are having trouble there Human! Would you like to, uh like to, um what are you doing?"

Taking advantage of my big eyes and small size, I tried my best to pout cutely at Papyrus, mimicking the expression that Gnar always made when he broke something in the Institute.

"Awh, you win Papyrus, you wouldn't capture an injured little girl like me, would you?"

Papyrus blushed slightly, his hands raising to his face as his jaw opened wide in shock.

"OMG HUMAN! WITH THAT ENDEARING EXPRESSION AND LARGE PUPPY DOG EYES, ARE YOU FLIRTING WITH ME?" He shouted, staring at me with admiration.

" _Wait, that's not what happens when Gnar does this…"_

"No that's not it I-"

"OMG! Human I am so flattered, I don't even know what to say!" He continued, completely ignoring me.

" _Oh, I guess I see why this expression works so well on Teemo and Rumble when Trist does it…"_

"But you must know Human, I am a skeleton with very high standards! What is it that makes you think that you would make an excellent partner for the Great Papyrus?" He asked expectantly.

I sighed, looking Papyrus straight in the eyes. I didn't want to hurt his feelings but I had to clear up this misunderstanding before it went too far.

"No Papyrus, you don't understand, I don't actually want to go out with you, sorry…" I explained nervously.

He paused, the clearing going eerily silent and his jaw once again slowly dropped.

"OMG! YOU'RE MEETING ALL OF MY STANDARDS!" He shouted, his hands once again clasping his face. "I guess that means we're going on a date now?"

"No just listen to me-"

"Excellent! I will see you at seven then! Meet me outside of my house! Nyehehehe!" Papyrus announced, before rushing back into town. As he ran, I could of sworn I saw him pull out something that looked like sauce and started dabbing it on the sides of his skull.

Looking ahead, I could see the path leading into a large cave beyond the confines of Snowdin. Now that Papyrus had gone, I could easily just take off down the path and continue on my journey to escape. After a brief pause, I sighed as I picked up my hammer and started walking back into town.

" _I guess I need to go prepare for a date with Papyrus then…"_


End file.
